


Underfalls

by TheEruditeGrammacist



Category: Gravity Falls, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Adventure, BillDip, Crossover, Dipper also not related to the Stans, Dipper and Mabel not related, F/F, Fluff, Friendship, Mabel is still related to Stans, Multi, Other, Pacifist Route, Possession, Puzzles, Spoilers, Spoilers - No Mercy Route, Spoilers - Pacifist Route, but only kind of, mabifica, sort of, you'll see - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-27
Updated: 2016-05-13
Packaged: 2018-05-16 17:23:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5834155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheEruditeGrammacist/pseuds/TheEruditeGrammacist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dipper falls down a hole on Mt. Ebott, where he meets a wide assortment of monsters. Some are furry and others are scaly, some are extravagant and others are meek, but all of them could help him get back to the surface if he can ACT his way into their hearts. But as he journeys, making unlikely friends with each step, there's the constant, nagging presence of that creepy little flower, and the voice in his head that tells him to do terrible, terrible things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fallen Down

**Author's Note:**

> This is essentially Undertale, in which I have substituted the major characters (and some of the minor ones) for Gravity Falls characters. 
> 
> Now, it is important to note that Bipper is tagged as a character. There is a reason for this. It ties into the reason BillDip is even tagged here. There will be NO DIRECT RELATIONSHIP between Bill and Dipper, so if that's why you're here, sorry to disappoint. But that all become obvious in later chapters, and if it doesn't, leave a comment telling me to explain it properly. 
> 
> One more thing to note: I have Stan and Ford playing Toriel and Asgore. Despite Toriel and Asgore being a married couple pre-canon, I would just like to point out that Stan and Ford WERE NOT MARRIED. They are, were, and will always be just brothers. So if Stancest isn't your cup of tea, don't worry. It's not mine, either. There's none of it here. And I'm not ship-shaming, either. If you like Stancest, then more power to you, I guess. I'm just stating that there's none here.

_You are standing. Looking. Looking down. Down, into the darkness. Into a dark pit. A dark pit, whose bottom is not visible. A hole in the ground, the ground of Mt. Ebott. Not knowing what’s at the bottom. Wondering what’s at the bottom. You always have wondered things. You have wondered so many things. Your curiosity has always been there. Always. Your curiosity tells you to look down into the pit. It asks what is down there. It tells you to look closer._

_You do._

_And then, you are falling._

 

…..

 

Dipper awoke in a bed of golden flowers. He groaned and rubbed his head, gazing up at the distant opening in the ceiling through which he had fallen. No going back that way. He scanned his surroundings: he was alone in a small room, empty except for the flowers and a single corridor, leading into darkness. Seeing no other options, Dipper followed it.

It wasn’t long before Dipper turned a corner and emerged into a large, dark room, empty except for a flower not unlike the ones he had seen before. It had six golden petals, framing a white center. The similarity ended there, however, because the flowers from earlier did not have a single, slit-pupil eye in the middle, and the petals arranged in the shape of a triangle. Dipper approached the flower warily, and nearly jumped out of his skin when the petals glowed and the flower began to talk.

“Well, howdy, Pine Tree!” the flower said happily. Its voiced was echoed and garbled, as if multiple people were speaking at once, through a filter. “It’s me! Your best friend!”

“I… what?” Dipper asked, bewildered. The flower gave a slight chuckle.

“Oh, silly me.” It chirped.  “You’ve been up on the Surface for too long, haven’t you? You’ve forgotten everything. But don’t worry! I’ll explain it all to you again.”

“Ummm, thanks?” Dipper said. This flower was acting like it knew him. His name was obviously not Pine Tree, but that seemed like it would be a nickname anyway. He decided to play along, at least until he got his bearings. Monster logic probably did not work the same way as human logic, after all.

“No problem!” The flower said, one side of its single eye closing with more force than the other. Dipper wondered if it was the flower’s attempt at a wink. “My name’s Bill, by the way, since I’m assuming you've forgotten that, too. Anyway, this here place is known as the Underground, home of the monsters. Down here, it’s not the strength of your body that matters. It’s the strength of your SOUL. Weak SOULs will be crushed in seconds.”

Dipper chewed his tongue nervously. He’d never considered that souls could be weak or strong. “How do I make my soul stronger?”

The flower’s eye crinkled upward, as if it was grinning. “Why, Pine Tree, that’s easy! I’m so glad you asked!” It said happily. “All you have to do is kill people!”

Dipper’s heart froze. “K-kill people?” he asked.

“Yep!” Bill chirped. “Simple, huh?”

“What if I don’t want to kill people?” Dipper asked, panicking. Bill’s eye narrowed.

“Yeesh, kid, did your time on the Surface make you go soft? Down here, it’s kill or be killed. You know that.” Bill scoffed.

“Uh, I mean, I-…” Dipper stammered nervously, worried that he was in trouble, but to his surprise, the flower simply burst out laughing.

“AHAHAHA! Oh, I get it now, Pine Tree!” Bill laughed. “You’re worried because your SOUL is weak, that others will kill you before you can get strong again! Well, don’t worry! Your old friend Bill can help you out! I’ll help you with this and you can help me with something I’ve been working on! We’ll work out the details later.”

This entire situation was incredibly suspicious to Dipper. But as much as this flower unnerved him, as much as he wanted to not take this deal, he didn’t want to kill people, and he didn’t want to die. “Okay, fine. Deal.”

The flower stuck out a glowing blue leaf for him to shake, but just as he was about to grab onto it, a burst of fire knocked the creepy little flower aside. It swiftly retreated underground.

Dipper gasped. Standing in front of him was a huge monster, a towering goatman with shaggy white fur covering its entire body. It wore a long, tan coat and glasses, and had a stern expression adorning its snout. Dipper was mildly surprised to see that the goatman had hands, not hooves as he had first expected, but then realized that each hand had six fingers.

“What a _horrible_ creature that was, taking advantage of an innocent kid like that.” The beast said. It noticed Dipper backing away and laughed. "Relax, kid, I’m not going to harm you. My name is Stanford Pines, and I’m the caretaker of the Ruins.”

“Um…” Dipper stuttered. The contrast between the harmless-looking, but unsettling flower and this intimidating yet friendly monster was giving him mental whiplash. “How did you find me?”

Stanford shrugged. “I come through here every day looking for humans who have fallen down. To be honest, you’re the first one in a long, long time. Anyway, follow me.” He turned and walked through a doorway at the other end of the room. Having no alternatives for the second time that day, Dipper followed.


	2. Navigating the Ruins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to preface this by apologizing for how short these chapters are. I'm trying to make each chapter span between save points, and sometimes more action happens between some save points than others. If a chapter is to uneventful, I'll make it two or even three save points long. I do try to keep things interesting. And besides, once Dipper gets out of the Ruins, I'll have a lot more to work with.  
> That said, I will be sticking very close to the Undertale canon in terms of dialogue up until the initial conversation with Sans and Papyrus. At that point, I will of course not _abandon_ canon, per se, I will just take more of a creative liberty.  
>  Oh, and one more thing. Remember how Toriel marked the first puzzle with those big, yellow arrows? Well, Stanford didn't. So think of it as the hardmode difficulty.

Dipper stepped through the doorway to see Stanford ascending a flight of stairs, entering a room with six buttons on the floor. Once Dipper had entered, Stanford spoke, “Lots of places in the Underground are filled with puzzles. It’s an ancient security system put in place long ago to aid the intelligent. I... may have had something to do with it.” he admitted. He stepped on four of the buttons, and a door opened. “Follow me.”

Dipper hastily followed him through the door, trying to match the goatman’s large strides with his short-legged human ones. Stanford led him into a long hallway, with three switches on the wall. The path branched off to lead to two switches on the wall, with a third switch without a path.

“This puzzle is pretty easy.” Stanford said. “See if you can solve it yourself. Hit the two correct switches and we can proceed.”

Dipper didn't even need to think twice. He walked briskly up to each switch that had a path leading to it, and flipped them. A barrier on the other side of the room descended. Stanford looked impressed.

“Great work! This way, then.” he said, leading Dipper out along another corridor.

As they walked, a question nagged at Dipper. “Um, Mr. Stanford, sir?” he asked tentatively. Stanford chuckled. “Please, just call me ‘Ford.’ No need for all the formality.”

“Alright, Ford, then,” Dipper paused, wondering how best to phrase his question. “Back there, that flower said that down here, it’s kill or be killed. Is that true?”

Stanford scoffed. “Hardly.” he snorted. “Most monsters are honestly more friendly than humans. The flower was just trying to trick you into giving it your SOUL. It spouts that line every time a human falls down here.”

“Oh.” Dipper said, relieved. “That’s good. I don’t want to do either.”

Stanford chuckled. “Well, that’s good. I mean, do some monsters dislike humans? Sure. You did drive and imprison us underground. But if any monsters do attack you, just try to act your way out of it. If you can get them to like you, they won’t want to fight any more. But really, you should be fine. Most monsters are too young to even remember what a human looks like.”

“Well that’s, um, reassuring.” Dipper said. Stanford laughed.

“Don’t you worry, kid. There aren’t even any aggressive monsters in the Ruins. This is a place where the weak come to seek refuge. Anything you run into will either be too afraid or too thick to want to fight. You’ll be fine.”

They reached a long hallway filled with pillars. Stanford paused. “Well, I, uh, have to go and take care of some… very real business. There is a thing that I need to do." He handed Dipper an old-fashioned cell phone. "You can just make your own way from here. Take this phone, call me if you need anything. Just keep going forward and you’ll get there. I’m sure you can take care of yourself. Bye!" And he left the room.

“Wait!” Dipper called after him. “I’ll get where? Where am I supposed to be going?”

But nobody came.

 _What just happened?_ Dipper thought. _Well, he said to keep going forwards, and I only see one direction that could be. Guess I’ll keep going._

Dipper started walking again, preoccupied with his thoughts. Hw wondered why Stanford had left so suddenly. Was it something he’d done? Something he’d said? He couldn’t think of anything.

He decided to give Stanford the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps he really _did_ have urgent business to attend to, and the only reason he’d seemed nervous when leaving was because he didn’t want to leave Dipper alone in the Ruins.

So preoccupied was Dipper in his thoughts that he didn’t notice the ghost. At least, not until he walked straight through it.


	3. Here Comes Napstabud

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Terribly sorry for how short this is. As I have previously stated, things will be moving rather slowly and adhering closely to canon until we get out of the Ruins, at which point the story will really begin to take off. So please just bear with me until then.  
> Also, starting this coming up Friday, I will be attempting to instate a bi-weekly update schedule. And by that I mean, once every two weeks, not twice a week. That's a prestigious update schedule that I would never be able to keep up with. But I have enough of the story written that I feel comfortable in my ability to update every other Friday, starting this week. Hopefully two updates in one week will make up for this update being so offensively short. With that said, should I get far enough ahead to bump it to an update every Friday, then I will. But that's only a possibility at this point.

Dipper jumped back, startled, as a wave of cold washed over him. A large, pale, semitranslucent being was floating over a pile of leaves, completely blocking his way. It was  
wearing what seemed to be a Hawaiian shirt and a straw hat, and it seemed to be fast asleep.

Dipper reached his hand out. He didn’t particularly want to wake the ghost, but he did need to get through. Perhaps if it was really incorporeal, he could simply walk through it? Rude as it seemed, that appeared to be the best solution.

However, before he could, he heard the ghost give a loud and obviously fake snore, followed by almost inaudibly whispering, “Is that person gone yet?”

“Um, excuse me?” Dipper said. The ghost gave no response. “Could you please move? You’re  
in my way.”

THe ghost initially gave no response, and Dipper was on the verge of just going back to his previous idea of walking through it when the ghost rose up and faced him.

“Um. Hi, there.” Dipper said.

“.................hi” the ghost replied. Dipper was mildly surprised at its voice. Apparently, ghosts  
could have southern accents. Dipper was about to ask it to move again, but then remembered what Stanford had said about  
getting monsters to like him. This ghost seemed sad. If he could cheer it up, it might be more inclined to move.

“Are… are you okay?” Dipper asked hesitantly.

“.......no.” the ghost admitted.

Dipper gave it a small smile and said, “Well, what’s wrong? My name’s Dipper, by the way.  
What’s yours?”

“Napstabud.” the ghost replied. It paused, then said, “Nothing…….nothing is really wrong. I’m  
just lonely. And it’s makin’ me kinda sad.”

“Um… okay, well,” Dipper said, searching for something to say. “Hang in there, I guess?” he  
offered weakly.

But it seemed to do the trick. Napstabud gave him a small smile. “............thanks.” he looked  
down. “oh……...I’m in your way, aren’t I? I’ll move.” And with that, he faded away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just like his in-game counterpart, Napstabud will become more important later. Not TOO terribly important, his main role right now is just foreshadowing the appearance of Mettaton, but still mildly important. Also, Bud/Blooky's names are the only ones that I combined or otherwise altered. Everyone else is known solely by their Gravity Falls names.


	4. There's No Place Like Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper arrives at Home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies, I have been unable to update until now for personal reasons. Hopefully this longer-than-usual chapter makes up for that. Regardless, the biweekly update schedule officially starts now.

Several rooms and many puzzles later, Dipper came across what appeared to be a large arrow made of tree leaves. He looked to where it was pointing, and saw a large, bare, black tree.

And standing next to the tree, waiting for him, was Stanford. When he saw Dipper approaching, his furry face split into a huge grin. “I’m impressed, kid.” he said. “You’re the first human who’s ever found this place so quickly.”

Dipper’s eyebrows knit together in confusion. “Wait…” he said, “So, this was like, a test?” 

“Sure was!” Stanford laughed. “And you passed with flying colors! You’re the most clever human to have fallen down here in a  _ very _ long time!”

Dipper blushed at the praise. He had always been smart, but hearing Stanford say it made him feel incredibly proud of himself.  

“Come, come, now. You must be exhausted, it’s getting late.” Stanford said. He led Dipper into the little house, which was just as cozy on the inside as it had looked from the out. A staircase on the far end of the entry hall indicated a lower level, and to his immediate right was a living room with a comfy-looking chair and a dining table. A door exiting the living room seemed to lead into a kitchen, and to Dipper’s right was a hallway that he assumed led to bedrooms. Stanford led him down this hallway, and they stopped in front of one of the doors. Stanford gestured to it broadly, swinging it open. “Surprise! A room of your very own. I hope you like it.”

Dipper was too tired to even thank him. He staggered to the bed and immediately fell asleep.

 

\-----

 

_ You have fallen down. How clumsy. Hitting the ground was an unpleasant experience, but at least you landed on some golden flowers instead of the stone floor. _

_ How peculiar. Those flowers looked familiar. Have you seen them before? _

_ You look around. There is a goat in the room. It does not look like any goat you have ever seen before. Goats do not usually stand on two legs. It does not act like any goat you have seen before, either. Goats do not usually talk. _

_ But this one does both. It talks to you and it is standing on its hind legs. It does not have hooves. It has hands. They are strange hands. _

_ The goat tells you its name. You tell it yours. You talk about other things. You tell the goat that you like its eyes. They are a very pretty color. It thanks you. It tells you that you have nice eyes, too. It does not compliment their color. _

_ That’s okay. You like its eyes better. _

_ They are a very pretty color of gold. _

 

=====

 

Dipper awoke with a start, the odd dream he’d just had ringing vividly through his mind. It certainly hadn’t felt like a dream. It had felt more like… a memory?

No, that made no sense. Stanford had brown eyes. And he was much older than the little goatman that he’d seen in the dream. Not to mention, he hadn’t seen the creepy flower.

Dipper dismissed the dream as nothing. Just a dream. For now, he had to ask Stanford how to get out of the Ruins and back above ground. He left the bedroom and went in search of Stanford.

He found Stanford at a desk in the living room. The old goatman’s face brightened upon seeing Dipper. Grinning, Stanford said, “Well, good morning! Or at least, what passes for morning down here, anyway. How did you sleep?”

Deciding not to trouble Stanford with news of his dream, Dipper replied, “Just fine, thanks.”

“Excellent! Excellent! Glad to hear it.” Stanford said, the grin not leaving his face. “Well, I certainly hope you like it here. feel free to look around, make yourself at home.”

“Oh. Um, okay.” Dipper said. He had wanted to ask Stanford how to get home, but he  _ was _ curious as to what a monster’s house might look like. He decided he could look around a bit before leaving. 

He started in the kitchen. It was surprisingly normal at first, but Dipper did notice that the stove was noticeably clean. Although, having seen the fire magic that Stanford used to fight off Bill, Dipper supposed he just cooked his food with that. The sink, too, looked normal at first, but Dipper soon saw that it was clogged with Stanford's white goat hair. 

Dipper checked the refrigerator next. His eyes immediately went to a bar of chocolate sitting on a shelf. Before he could stop himself, he reached out and grabbed it.

_ Ford won’t mind if I take this, right?  _ he thought, but then realized what he was doing. He hurriedly put the chocolate back and thought,  _ What am I doing? He opens his home to me and I take his food without asking? _

But a voice came unbidden into his mind, whispering,  _ But he said to make yourself at home. Surely this qualifies.  _ He reached back for the chocolate.

_ No.  _ Dipper told himself firmly.  _ It’s wrong. _ He closed the door firmly.

Dipper left the kitchen and wandered around the house some more. The hall was filled with long, brownish flowers, ones that Dipper recognized, but could not remember for the life of him. Two other doors were in the hallway, one leading to, if all of the scribbled notes and scientific-looking musings were any indication, Stanford’s bedroom. The last remaining door was locked, and had a sign on it reading, “Room under renovations.” Dipper decided not to question it.

He eventually wandered back into the living room. Stanford was still sitting at the desk, writing in a leather-bound journal. He looked up when Dipper entered the room, and asked, “So, what do you think? Nice place, huh?”

Dipper nodded his assent, saying, “Yeah, I like it. It’s kinda… cozy.”

Stanford laughed. “Cozy, huh? Yes, you could certainly say that. Anyway, what can I do for you?”

“Well, I-” Dipper began, intending to ask how to get home, but he was cut off by a loud grumbling. He smiled sheepishly. “I could kinda use some food.”

 

\-----

 

Dipper sat at the modest dining room table while watching Stanford cook. He had been right, Stanford  _ did _ use fire magic to cook his food. It was quite interesting to watch, really, but eventually Stanford stopped cooking and set a plate of beans in front of Dipper. 

“Sorry, it’s not much, but it’s just so hard to get good groceries here in the Ruins.” Stanford said. “Someday, I’d enjoy being able to make a huge, cinnamon-butterscotch pie. But that’s unlikely to happen. Closest I’d be able to get is a snail pie.”

“Sounds appetizing.” Dipper remarked with a small laugh. He spooned some of the beans into his mouth and swallowed, then gasped when they instantly dissolved. Stanford stifled a chuckle. 

“Sorry, forgot to mention.” he said,  “Monster food is made entirely of magic. Our bodies, too, are made from magic, unlike you humans with your solid, carbon-based bodies. It’s why you humans leave corpses behind when you die, but monsters simply turn to dust.” 

“That’s so cool!” Dipper said. “But, um, can I eat monster food then?”

Stanford smiled. “Yes, you can. The sensation just takes a bit of getting used to.”

Dipper took another bite of the beans and swallowed, this time anticipating it dissolving. He found that the experience was not altogether unpleasant. “This is incredible.” Dipper said. “So, what exactly causes monsters to turn to dust when they die?

Stanford’s eyes lit up, clearly excited at the prospect of passing along knowledge. “Well, you see, it all starts with your SOUL. Your SOUL is the very culmination of your being, it is what makes you who you are. SOUL,  by the way, is actually spelled with all capital letters. I’m not entirely sure why. It just is. Anyway, human bodies are sort of like a protective flesh armor surrounding their SOULs. It makes it a lot harder for humans to use magic than monsters, but it also makes them more resilient. Monsters, however, have bodies made of magic cast by their SOUL, meaning that we are more magically inclined, but are far weaker. That’s the main difference between humans and monsters.

“Now, what most people call ‘death’ is the shattering of a SOUL. When the SOUL of a human is shattered, because their body exists independently of their SOUL, the body persists. And sometimes, if a SOUL is strong enough, it can even persist after being shattered, and attempt to seek out a new body. However, the residual SOUL is unstable, and even the sweetest human would behave like a relentless murderer.”

Dipper winced. “Would there be a way for the broken SOUL to be fixed? Like, to where the human would think like themselves again.”

Stanford considered this. “Well, I… I suppose it could be  _ possible _ , though it is very unlikely. The SOUL would need a new body in which to regenerate, but body would have to be lacking a SOUL. A broken SOUL isn’t strong enough to animate an entire human body on its own, and the SOUL wouldn’t be able to regenerate if the body already had a soul of its own. And while a broken human SOUL could, in theory, sustain a monster body, it couldn’t make itself a new one, there would have to already be a monster without a SOUL. And monster bodies cannot exist without SOULs, so that can’t happen. So actually, no, now that I think about it. It’s impossible. A broken human SOUL would just be an emotionless, moral-less abomination until it fades away.”

“Well that’s… depressing.” Dipper said. Stanford nodded his assent. 

“Unfortunately, the broken human SOUL is still likely to take on a host. While it wouldn’t be able to regenerate, it would still share a body with the human or monster whose body it was inhabiting. If the broken SOUL became strong enough, it could overpower the host’s SOUL. Then the broken SOUL would have full control over the body, and the host’s SOUL would have to watch its body commit the terrible acts that the broken SOUL committed.” Stanford paused, forcing a smile. “But hey, that would only happen if the host actually let the broken SOUL influence its actions to begin with. The more you give in to the broken SOUL, the more powerful it becomes, until it overpowers you.”

Stanford finished his beans and looked up at Dipper. “Well, we kind of got off topic, but does that answer your question?”

“I think so.” Dipper said. “So, a monster turns to dust when it dies because its body is made of magic, and once the SOUL shatters, that magic disperses?”

Stanford gave Dipper a wide grin. “Precisely. See, I told you you were clever.” Dipper flushed at the praise and turned back to his beans.

“You know, I’d really love to have you work as my apprentice.” Stanford said. “I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m a scientist. That’s how I know so much about SOULs. And I would really love it if you could help me with my research and experiments.” 

Dipper stared at Stanford. He couldn’t believe his ears. This kind, genius scientist was asking him to stay with him, help him with his experiments, be his  _ apprentice _ ? it sounded like a dream come true. And yet…

“I can’t.” Dipper said. “I mean, I’m super honored, and all, but I… I want to go home. I want to go back above ground.”

Stanford regarded him with surprise, then sadness. “I see.” he said, “I… I have to go do something. Wait here.” he abandoned his empty plate and left the room. Curious, Dipper abandoned his own, half-finished beans and followed him.

Stanford went down the stairs in the entry hall, and down a long hallway. It was longer than any other hallway he’d seen in the Ruins. Knowing that Dipper was following him, Stanford spoke.

“You want to know how to exit the Ruins? You naive child.” Stanford said, his voice more stern than Dipper had ever heard it. “I have seen it all before. Humans fall down here. I ask them to stay. They don’t. And then they die. Time and time again, I have seen it. I refuse to let it happen again.” He walked down the hallway. “Down here is the exit that connects the Ruins to the rest of the Underground. I am going to destroy it. Do not follow me. This is your final warning.”

Dipper hurried after him despite his warning. 

They arrived at a door. Stanford turned around and faced Dipper, eyes narrowed. 

“Do you really want to leave so badly?” Stanford asked. “You have no idea what is waiting for you. If you go past this door, you will be pursued. Stanley… He will kill you. Stay here. You’ll be safe.”

“I don’t care.” Dipper said. “You said yourself. I’m clever. Maybe I can do it.”

“You think you can defeat Stanley?” Stanford asked. “You really think that you can get through the entire Underground, get past Stanley, and escape?”

“Yes.” Dipper said. “I do.”

“Then prove it.” Stanford said. His hands burst into flame, lighting up the corridor. “Prove to me that you are strong enough to survive.”

And the deadly balls of fire flew at Dipper.


	5. Heartache

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper will not fight Goat Uncle Stanford, and Dipper has a little chat with the devil on his shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did anyone get my little pun? Goat Uncle Stanford... Great Uncle Stanford... No? That was terrible and sans is ashamed of me?
> 
> Yeah... I know.

Dipper darted out of the way of Stanford’s fire. The flames danced around him, magic fireballs trapping him and floating ever nearer. But Dipper refused to fight back. The old man had been so kind to him earlier, he couldn’t bring himself to attack. THe voice in his head from before, however, had other ideas.

 _What are you doing?_ the voice demanded. _Attack him!_ _He’s attacking you! Fight back!_

 _But…_ Dipper tried to reason, _he doesn’t really seem to be trying his hardest… He doesn’t want to fight me any more than I want to fight him._

While Stanford continued lobbing balls of fire at him, Dipper refused to raise a weapon against him. _You’re going to die, you know._ the voice hissed. _You’re going to die, and the old man will be so guilt-ridden from having killed you. You want to be merciful? Killing him would be a mercy. Kill him before he kills you!_

Stanford stared at the boy in confusion. Dipper continued to weave through his fire attacks, but would not hit him back. “What are you doing?” the old goatman growled. “Attack or run away!”

 _Preferably attack!_ the obnoxious voice in Dipper’s head hissed.

 _But…_ Dipper thought, but the voice in his head, which he was now very sure was not his own, interrupted him.

 _He’s trying to kill_ you! the voice insisted. _Remember what Bill said? He was right all along! Kill, or be killed!_

 _No._ Dipper said with finality. _I won’t hurt him._

And he didn’t.

 

\-----

 

Stanford was getting frustrated. Dipper wasn’t attacking, he was just (rather impressively) evading the fireballs, and all the while looking at him oddly. As if he was trying to… spare him?

“Stop looking at me like that!” Stanford growled.

Dipper, as usual, did not listen. He continued to dodge, steadfastly did not attack, and would not stop looking at him with… something. Pity? No. Fear? Definitely not.

_With Determination._

Stanford stopped trying to talk. He focused solely on what he was doing. Proving to Dipper that the youth wasn’t strong enough to survive out in the Underground. But as Dipper kept dodging and staring, dodging and staring, Stanford felt his own determination begin to waver. His attacks flew harmlessly to the side, and Dipper no longer even needed to dodge.

Eventually, Stanford stopped attacking altogether. “Look, kid…” he said, once more trying to reason with the boy. “I know you want to go home, but please, you must understand. I-I promise, if you stay here with me, I’ll take good care of you.” he sighed. “I know there isn’t all that much, but you could be happy here, right? I wasn’t kidding earlier, you know. I would love for you to stay and be my apprentice. Please, just go upstairs.”

But Dipper refused. Stanford gave a wry, mirthless laugh. “Kinda pathetic, isn’t it?” he asked sadly. “I can’t even save one single child.” He heaved a large, bleating sigh. “No, I get it. You’d just be unhappy trapped down here, wouldn’t you? That’s no way for a child to grow up.”

Stanford gave Dipper a long look. “I suppose, I can put aside my own expectations, my own loneliness, my own fear. It’s not right for me to force you to stay here just for me.

“If you really want to leave the Ruins, I won’t stop you. Once you get out, keep walking, as far and as fast as you can. Eventually you will reach the Core. That is where you will find the barrier keeping the monsters underground.”

As Dipper was about to thank him, he turned around and said, “But, listen, when you leave… Please don’t come back. You understand, right?” he stooped down and enveloped Dipper in a long hug.

“Goodbye, kid. And… good luck.” He turned and slowly trudged down the corridor, sparing Dipper one last longing look over his shoulder as he left.

Dipper stared after him for a minute, before gathering his resolve and going through the door.

 

\-----

 

Beyond the doorway was an incredibly long, empty hallway. Dipper didn’t mind, though. It gave him time to be alone with his thoughts. And, also the other thoughts. The thoughts that were not his.

“Are you still there?” he asked. “I think you’re a broken soul. Like Stanford was talking about.”

His head was silent for a moment, and then, _You don’t have to speak out loud when you talk to me, you know. Just speak in your head. You look like an idiot, talking to yourself like that._

 _Um. Okay. This feels weird, though._ Dipper thought. _So, was I right? You’re a broken soul, right?_

 _I don’t like the word_ broken _. It feels offensive._ the voice replied. _But yes, I am._

 _Okay, what’s your name?_ Dipper asked, still feeling that the semi-telepathic communication felt awkward.

 _I don’t see any reason you’d need to know that._ the voice said, and Dipper could hear a twinge of annoyance in its tone. He began to wonder how a disembodied voice could have a tone.

 _Would you please stay on topic here?_ the voice snapped at him. Dipper blushed.

 _You can hear_ everything _I think?_ he demanded. The voice snickered.

 _I’m living in your head, kid. Of course I can._ it said.

Feeling mildly violated, Dipper asked, _Why are you doing this? What do you want from me?_

 _You’ll see, in time._ the voice said. And it refused to answer any more of his questions.

 

\-----

 

Bill waited for the door to open. He’d seen Pine Tree fighting the old fool, and he knew with certainty that he’d won, even if he was still being all annoyingly sweet and saccharine, and probably hadn’t even killed the stupid goat. Sure enough, when the door opened and Pine Tree stepped through, his hands were free of dust.

“Clever.” he admitted, noticing Pine Tree’s alarm upon seeing him. “Verrrryyy clever, Pine Tree. You think you’re really clever, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do, actually.” Dipper said defiantly. “Kill or be killed, that’s what you said. Well, I didn’t kill, but I still wasn’t killed. So yeah, I am feeling pretty smart.”

Bill scoffed. “So you were able to play by your own rules.” Bill’s yellow petals began to urn a corrupted-looking shade of red. “You spared the life of a single old goat. And you feel _really_ great about it. You didn’t kill anybody. _This_ time.” The iris of Bill’s single eye turned dark red, and the pupil turned white. “But what will you do if you meet a relentless killer?” he demanded, the pitch of his voice plunging. “You’ll die and you’ll die and you’ll die. What then, huh, kid? Will you kill out of frustration? Or will you give up entirely on this world? And _give me your soul?_ ” Bill cackled. “I am the king of this world’s future. But don’t worry, my little pawn. I don’t plan to kill you.”

He laughed maniacally. “What I have planned… is _so_ much more interesting.” And with more creepy laughter, he dove back under the ground.

 

\-----

  
Dipper shook off his fear. That encounter had been… unsettling, to say the least. Dipper saw one other door, on the far side of the room. Swifty becoming very tired of only having one option, Dipper went through it.


	6. chapter 6- wendy.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper meets a pair of skeletons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that Dipper is out of the Ruins, the story will be picking u and branching off. I have the next chapter outlined and mostly written, so my biweekly update schedule should hold. This is the last chapter that adheres strongly to Undertale canon, after this, the story will become much more interesting.
> 
> Point of interest, however: Major events in Undertale will still be in this story, such as boss fights and dates. They'll just be severely edited for the purposes of this story.

The door slammed shut behind him with an air of finality. There would be no going back into the Ruins.

The first thing that struck Dipper was how very cold it was. Snow littered the ground, and Dipper was shivering within seconds. Trees surrounded him, and a single path led through the forest. Dipper followed it, crossing his arms in an attempt to ward off the chill.

The path stretched on. As Dipper walked, he began to have an unsettling feeling, almost as though he was being watched. Or… followed. In his distraction, he nearly tripped over a very thick and very heavy branch that was laying across the path. He tried to move it, but it was too heavy for him to pick up. He left it and continued on the path.

A loud snapping noise caused him to whirl around. THe branch that he had just recently been unable to even budge was now shattered into several pieces. The weather now not the only thing causing him to shiver, he set off down the path at a much quicker rate.

His feelings of unease only grew as he speedily walked down the path. He had a heightened sense, now, of being followed. The occasional footstep, a silhouette from behind the trees, Dipper was starting to lose his mind to fear. He approached a bridge with bars spaced out a great distance from each other spread across it. He was about to cross it when he knew, he _knew_ that he heard footsteps behind him. He froze. They grew closer and closer, his certain doom approaching from behind.

Had Stanford been right? Should he have stayed in the Ruins? Was he really so weak that he would not survive even five minutes after leaving the safety of Stanford? The footsteps were right behind him now. Dipper was sure that this was the end.

“Human.” a voice came from behind him.

“Don’t you know… how to greet a new pal?”

 _What?_ Dipper thought, his feeling of despair temporarily making room for bewilderment.

“Turn around and shake my hand.”

Dipper slowly turned around, his eyes glued to his feet. Terrified, he hesitantly extended his arm. The figure took his hand.

A loud _ppphhhhbbthhtbbtht_ echoed through the air. Dipper looked up in shock.

A tall skeleton stood before him. It wore a green flannel shirt, jeans, and a brown lumberjack hat. Long red hair extended from its scalp to near its waist.

The skeleton burst out laughing. “Oh, man, you should have seen your face just now. Priceless.” Dipper stared in disbelief.

The skeleton seemed to smirk at him. “Anyway. So, you’re a human, right? Cool, dude. I’m Wendy. Wendy the skeleton.”

Dipper, still nervous, though put more at ease now that she was being so friendly with him (and the whoopie cushion had certainly helped to ease tension), replied, “Hi, my name’s Dipper.”

“Nice to meet you, dude.” she said, the smirk never leaving her face. “So, uh, listen, man. I’m, like, kinda supposed to be on the watch for humans right now. But, luckily for you, I don’t actually care about capturing anyone.”

Dipper smiled weakly. “Well, that’s a relief.” he said.

“Yep. Sure is.” she laughed. Then her face turned serious, or as serious as a skeleton’s face could. “But here’s the thing: I’ve got a brother. His name is Jesus, but really, just call him Soos. Everyone does. Now, that guy is _obsessed_ with capturing a human _._ ” she chuckled. “He’s got his reasons. But if you run into him... hey, actually, I think that’s him over there Let’s go say hi.” She pointed to somewhere behind him. Dipper froze.

 _Obsessed with capturing a human?_ he thought frantically. Wendy was apparently only not capturing him because she didn’t really feel like it. If this “Soos” was as obsessed as Wendy claimed, then Dipper needed to think of a plan, fast.

Wendy must have noticed him tensing, because she said, “Don’t worry about it, dude. I’ve got your back. Go through this gate thing.” she indicated the sparsely-barred fence. “Yeah, just go right on through. Soos accidentally made the gaps too wide to stop anyone. He tends to do that.”

When he hesitated, she pushed him through the gaps in the fence and down the trail, where a lamp was randomly sitting next to what looked like some sort of guard station. “Quick, get behind that conveniently-placed lamp!”

Dipper scurried to hide behind the lamp, just as another skeleton came into view.

Wendy’s skeletal grin grew even wider. “What-up, Soos?” she asked.

Soos the Skeleton was the very definition of “big-boned.” He was taller than Wendy, and very round. A green t-shirt hung off very wide ribs, and thick, skeletal arms extended from broad shoulders. A brown cap rested on his scalp, sliding slightly on the frictionless skull if he moved his head too quickly. Broad hips supported beige cargo shorts, and with no flesh to obscure them, his buck teeth were very prominent.

“Aw, come on, Wendy, you know ‘what-up!’” Soos said. “We’ve been in Snowdin for a month now, and we haven’t seen even a single human! And even if one does come, I don’t even know if you would notice! You just sit at your station and read magazines all day! I mean, what are you even doing?”

“Oh, I’m just starin’ at this lamp.” Wendy replied. “It’s really cool. You wanna look?”

Dipper froze. What was Wendy thinking? But before he could worry too much, he heard Soos stomping his foot.

“No! Dude, I don’t have time for that! I mean like, what if a human comes by here? I want to be ready!” He stopped stomping his foot, and struck a dramatic, heroic pose. “I _will_ capture a human! Then I’ll finally be able to join the royal guard!” He grinned. “Then, I can hang out with Mr. King Pines! Then I can gain Stan’s trust, get adopted by Stan, change name to Stan Jr, you know?” he asked, dropping his pose and turning to Wendy.

“Huh.” Wendy replied. “Maybe this lamp will help you.”

“WENDY!” Soos exclaimed. “You’re not helping, hambone!”

“Whoa, whoa, dude, relax!” Wendy laughed. “Chill, dude. Seriously.”

Soos groaned. “I’m gonna go take another patrol. You just, well, do whatever you’ve been doing.” And he left.

“It’s okay, you can come out now.” Wendy called to Dipper. He emerged from behind the lamp.

“Thanks, Wendy.” Dipper said. Wendy just laughed.

“No sweat, dude.” she said. “Now, you should probably get going. You heard what I meant about the whole ‘obsessed with humans’ thing.”

Dipper gave a wry grin. “Yeah, I did. Who’s Mr. King Pines?”  
Wendy smirked slightly. “King Stanley Pines, ruler of the monsters,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Soos hero-worships the guy. HE’s a pretty lax king, I mean, a lot of people just call him Stan.”  
Dipper froze. “You think you can defeat Stanley?” Stanford had asked. “You really think that you can get through the entire Underground, get past Stanley, and escape?” He hadn’t mentioned that Stanley was the king of the monsters. That made things a bit more complicated. He decided that he would deal with this information later. He needed to focus on getting to Stanley before worrying about getting past him. He forced a smile onto his face. “Oh, okay.” Dipper said, trying not to sound panicked. “See you, Wendy.”

Dipper gave a wry grin. “Yeah, I did. Who’s Mr. King Pines?”

Wendy smirked slightly. “King Stanley Pines, ruler of the monsters,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Soos hero-worships the guy. HE’s a pretty lax king, I mean, a lot of people just call him Stan.”

Dipper froze. _“You think you can defeat Stanley?”_ Stanford had asked. _“You really think that you can get through the entire Underground, get past Stanley, and escape?”_ He hadn’t mentioned that Stanley was the king of the monsters. That made things a bit more complicated. He decided that he would deal with this information later. He needed to focus on getting _to_ Stanley before worrying about getting _past_ him. He forced a smile onto his face. “Oh, okay.” Dipper said, trying not to sound panicked. “See you, Wendy.”

“Count on it!” she said. Dipper turned to leave, when Wendy spoke up. “Actually, hey, hate to bother you, but could you do me a favor?”

“Uh, sure, what is it?” Dipper asked.

“Well, as you just heard, Soos’s lifelong goal is to join the Royal Guard. But, he can’t get in unless he at least spots a human…” Wendy trailed off.

“I think I see where this is going…” Dipper said. Wendy grinned her skeletal grin at him.

“Ah, don’t worry about it, man! I’ll be right there to make sure nothing bad happens, okay? Soos tries really hard, but he’s mostly harmless.”

Dipper sighed in defeat. “Okay, fine.” Wendy grinned even more broadly.

“Thanks dude. I owe you one. I’ll be up ahead.” she walked back the way she’d come.

Dipper confusedly stared after her, wondering how exactly she planned to be “up ahead” if she was going back, but ultimately decided not to question the matter further. Wendy struck him as the type of skeleton who knew what she was doing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After reviewing this chapter, I noticed that there was something else that I needed to have included for next chapter that I forgot to put in. So I'll be updating this chapter again, and I'll put the detail in next chapter's notes for those of you who don't want to go back and re-read this chapter after it's updated.


	7. Chapter 7- Snowy Woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper makes some new friends, then learns what Stanford meant by "the underground is dangerous."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The detail I added to the last chapter was just Dipper learning that Stanley, whom Stanford had mentioned, is the Monster King. If you want to re-read the chapter for that little detail, go ahead, but that's really it.
> 
> Also, trigger warning for blood. It's not a lot, nor is it graphic by any means, but it is there, so if that bothers you then read with care.

Dipper shivered as he resumed walking along the path, beginning to grow slightly jealous of the skeletons’ lack of skin. His own was beginning to feel slightly numb from the cold. He rubbed at his arms, wishing that they were covered by more than just a t-shirt and a sleeveless vest.

He saw two figures in front of him, a good distance down the path. Upon closer inspection, he saw that it was Wendy and Soos. Wendy was boredly leaning against a tree, listening as Soos talked animatedly. As Dipper grew closer, he began to pick up their conversation.

“...we catch a human, do you think we’ll have to move out of Snowdin? Cause I kinda like it here.” Soos was saying. His voice caught when he saw Dipper.

“WENDYDUDEOHMYGODISTHATAHUMAN?” he said in one breath, a rather impressive feat for a skeleton with no lungs.

“Think so, dude.” Wendy said. Soos began breathing rather heavily, causing Dipper to wonder if skeletons could hyperventilate. 

_ Yes, they can.  _ the voice echoed in Dipper’s mind. Dipper jumped slightly; he’d forgotten it was in there.

_ Could you please stop reading my every thought?  _ Dipper asked. 

_ I’m not reading it, I’m just hearing it. That’s like asking you to stop hearing everything around you. _ it replied. 

Ignoring his obnoxious roommate for now, Dipper saw that Soos had gotten his breathing under control. “Human!” the skeleton declared, “You will not get past this area! I, Soos, will capture you and take you to the captain of the Royal Guard! Do not attempt to struggle!” He turned to Wendy and whispered, though loudly enough for Dipper to still hear him, “Dude this is like the best day of my life.” He turned back to Dipper. “I’ll be waiting for you in Snowdin. There, I’ll ambush you and hold you in our garage until the Captain comes.” He declared. He made a few more excited noises, then left.

Wendy walked over to him. “Thanks, man, that went about as well as it could have.” she remarked. Dipper stared after Soos.

“Did he just tell me exactly where he’ll be waiting to ambush me?.” He asked, unsure whether to be amused or afraid. “Doesn’t that go against the whole point of it being an ambush?”

Wendy chuckled. “Yeah, like I said, he’s kinda new at this whole ‘being intimidating’ thing.”

Dipper glanced up at her. “So, what, should I avoid this Snowdin place?”

“Nah.” Wendy replied. “I’ll bet you’re trying to get back up to the Surface, right?” Dipper nodded. “Well, only way to do that’s to go through Snowdin.”

“Great.” Dipper muttered. Wendy chuckled.

“Ah, don’t worry, dude.” She said, rubbing Dipper’s head. “Soos is a good guy. I doubt he’ll have the heart to actually capture you.”

With that, she walked after Soos. 

 

\-----

 

It took Dipper all of ten seconds of walking in the general direction that Soos and Wendy had gone to realize that he had absolutely no idea where he was going. He was alone in the middle of freezing woods, following a vague path that may or may not actually lead him to Snowdin. Dipper groaned.

_ Well done, numbskull. _ The voice drawled.  _ Maybe you should have asked that nice skeleton lady for directions. You know,  _ before _ she left. And don’t think you can just ask me, I haven't been through these woods since I had a body of my own. It’s been a few decades. _

_ A few  _ decades? _ How long have you been dead? _ Dipper asked.

_ Longer than Soos has been vying for Stan’s attention, that’s for sure. I don’t remember that from when I was alive. _ It replied.  _ Though, come to think of it, I don’t remember those skeletons at  _ all.  _ They must not be that old. _

A commotion ahead caught Dipper’s attention. Three monsters he didn’t recognize were standing in the path, two of them chanting.

“Eat it! Eat it! Eat it!” they were saying, while the third monster, a very squat, wide monster, held something next to its mouth. One of the two chanting monsters saw Dipper and put its hand on the other’s shoulder.

“Whoa, dude, who’s that?” it asked. The other two looked over.

“No idea.” Another replied. “Hey, kid! Come over here!” it called. Dipper quickly made his way to them.

“Hey there, kid. You new around here?” said the first, a white bird that looked like a snowflake. “My name’s Nate. The monster over there with the cool hat is Lee, and this is Thompson.” Dipper smiled.

“Hi, I’m Dipper.” he said. “So, what are you guys doing?”

“We dared Thompson to eat this frozen cinnamon bunny we found laying around. He’s totally gonna do it.” Lee said. “Eat it! Eat it! Eat it!”

Nate joined in on Lee’s mantra, and eventually Dipper did too. Thompson, now with three voices prompting him, put the frozen bunny pastry in his mouth and swallowed it. His oblong face contorted in disgust, causing Dipper, Lee, and Nate to burst into laughter. 

“Oh, man, I can’t believe he actually ate that!” Dipper said as their laughter died down, wiping a tear from his eye. Lee and Nate smirked at him.

“Yeah, Thompson’s great. He’ll do just about anything.” Lee said.

“It’s true!” Nate seconded. “There’s this one huge monster that lives near a cave, and we dared Thompson to put giant socks filled with random stuff on its horns while it was asleep. He did it. It was hysterical.”

“Oh, you should have seen the look on its face when it woke up.” Lee said. “Priceless.”

Dipper laughed again. Lee and Nate seemed friendly enough. He didn’t think they would be opposed to helping him. Besides, they didn’t even know that he was human. He decided to go ahead and ask them for directions, given that he couldn't see a way to get to Snowdin on his own. 

“So, um, do you guys live around here?” He asked. Seeing their nods of assent, he asked, “Well, I’m trying to get to Snowdin, and I’m kinda lost. Could you help me out?”

Nate shrugged. “Sure thing, dude. We were just on our way to Snowdin, too. Hang with us on our way there!” 

“Really? Well, okay!” Dipper said. THe four set off in the direction of the town.

 

As they walked, he asked Lee and Nate about Wendy and Soos. Nate told him that the pair had only recently moved to Snowdin, and that Wendy was a good friend of theirs.

“I’m not really sure where they came from,” Nate admitted. “They just sort of arrived one day and nobody really questioned it. I think it was around three years ago, now?” 

“Hey, isn’t that around the same time that the Royal Scientist started?” Thompson pointed out.

The other two were silent for a moment, before Lee said, “Yeah, I hadn’t actually noticed that, before. Huh.”

“Royal scientist?” Dipper asked, his mind immediately leaping to Stanford.

“Yeah, long story with her.” Nate said. “She’s Stan’s great-niece, but that’s not why she got the job. She’s really smart, she learned from her other great-uncle before he vanished.”

“Uh, yeah, we used to have two kings, Stanley and his brother, but he vanished. Probably dead.” Thompson put in.

“Dude, it’s been so long, like nobody remembers his name anymore.” Lee laughed. “You think of the king, you only think of Stan anymo-”

A loud cracking noise cut through his voice. Dipper glanced toward the sound, startled. He saw nothing amiss, but heard a definite rustling emanating from the forest.

“Guys, what's that?” Thompson asked nervously. 

“I don’t know. Someone go look.” Lee said. He turned to Nate. “Go look, dude.”

“I’m not looking. You go look.” He protested. Dipper saw an easy solution.

“Thompson! Go look!” He commanded. Lee and Nate grinned.

“Nice use of Thompson!” Nate laughed. “I like this kid!” 

Thompson nervously approached the rustling bush, as Lee, Nate, and Dipper cheered him on. He reached for the bush, his long, spindly arms shaking. He pushed the branches aside…

A large, white dog wearing gray armor burst forth, knocking Thompson over. He fell on his back as the dog leaped over him, barking and wagging its tail.

The dog was bipedal, apparently, as it charged toward Dipper on its hind legs, wielding a sword and shield. It had a wide, gaping mouth and a lolling tongue, round glasses, and a small fedora. “ _ Lesser Toby?”  _ Lee asked, jumping in surprise. The dog gave a nasally yip and leapt at Dipper, who dodged quickly to the side. 

_ Okay, dog attacking, don’t think I can talk my way out of this one…  _ Dipper thought. 

_You’re right, but not for the reason you think._ The voice said. _Dogs are actually capable of understanding_ _you, but that armor is signature high-rank Royal Guard member. He’s not likely to just let you go. This is what Bill was talking about earlier, a relentless killer! Kill it, now!_

Dipper instinctively searched for something around to use as a weapon, but realized what he was doing. He regained control and just dodged, the dog’s blade coming closer to hitting him this time.

“Dude! Why’s Lesser Toby attacking you?” Thompson asked. “What’d you do?”

Lee and Nate turned to Thompson and began to tell him something, but the dog began barking loudly enough to drown out their voices.

_ Dogs, um, they like… fetch? Treats? I don’t know! _ He thought furiously. The dog swung at him again, Dipper only narrowly dodging this time.

_ THOSE ARE STUPID IDEAS! _ The voice screamed at him.  _ JUST KILL THE DAMN DOG! _ Dipper closed his eyes, trying to block it out.

_ Um, petting? Yes! If I can get close enough to pet it, then I can-... _

Dipper was so distracted by his thoughts and trying to block out the voice that he momentarily forgot about dodging, just as the dog swung again. The sword hit him in the thigh, piercing his skin before he recovered his focus and leapt away. 

Lesser Toby made a stance as if to swing once more, but Dipper, gritting his teeth against the stinging pain in his thigh, dashed forward and raised his hand. Lesser Toby’s eyes shot to it as if he was holding a red rubber ball.

Dipper set his hand against the dog’s fluffy white neck, stroking it gently. Lesser Toby panted and whined, leaning its head into his hand. Dipper chuckled a little as Lee, Nate, and Thompson stared at him in shock. If you got past the dog’s odd features and the fact that it had just been trying to kill him, it was almost rather cute. Dipper pet the dog for another minute before it gave a happy bark and bounded off back into the woods. 

The adrenaline of the fight over, Dipper turned his attention to his leg wound. His heart sunk. It was far worse than he’d thought. He hadn’t noticed it when he was calming down Lesser Toby, but now, without the adrenaline of the fight, he felt the consequences of his slowness. The sword had sliced him deeply, and blood was freely falling, painting the snow red. He fell to one knee. He could hear Lee and Nate calling to him, but his head was spinning too badly to hear what they were saying.   
Nice going, kid. The voice was the last thing that Dipper heard.

 

\-----

 

_ The goat brings you home. It lives with two other goats, both bigger than it. The big goats are not its parents, however. It just lives with them. Goatmen together. It makes some sort of sense, you suppose.  _

_ The goat who brought you there introduces you to its goat friends. They take care of it, it explains to you. It takes care of them. They are like a little goat family. You learn that the two older goats are actually twin brothers. They say that they will take care of you, too, if you want. You could live with them. If you want. _

_ You do want. Your life on the Surface was miserable. You do not want to return there. You want to stay with your new goat friends. _

_ You do not want to have anything from your past. No memories. Not even your name. One of the goats suggests thinking of a new name. You like that idea. _

_ On your forehead is an odd-looking birthmark, in the shape of a constellation. You have always hated it. The kids above made fun of you for it. But to the monsters down here, it is just a mark. They don’t see what’s wrong with it. They don’t know what the Big Dipper is. According to the smarter of the big goats, most monsters don’t even know what a star is. _

_ Your birthmark represents the difference between your new home and your old one, so you decide to name yourself after it.  _

_ Big Dipper. _

_ Bipper. _


	8. Chapter 8- Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A peek into the past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so terribly sorry about the late update. AP tests and final exams have been kicking my ass lately, but once those are done, I'll be settling into a new job (hopefully) and updates will be biweekly again. Until life gets less crazy, I'm afraid they'll just come as quickly as i can write them.

_ The goats tell you all about the Underground. It’s nice there, you think. You’re glad they’re not making you return to the Surface. It doesn’t make any sense to you, though. They seem like responsible goatmen. Shouldn’t they want you to be with your parents? _

_ One day, you ask about it. As it turns out, they do not. As it turns out, the goats did not have that great of parents, themselves. They understand wanting a new start and want to help you. And as it turns out, they couldn’t send you back even if they really wanted to. There’s a barrier keeping the monsters underground. The littlest goat, the one with gold eyes, tells you that if the barrier is ever broken, then the monsters can be free once again. He tells you that the barrier can be broken by someone with a powerful enough SOUL. _

_ He also tells you that SOUL is spelled with all capital letters. He doesn’t know why. It seems that nobody does. _

_ You want to ask what makes SOULs more powerful than others, but you don’t. You don’t because the goat brings up another subject. It tells you that while it likes your new name, it has a nickname for you. _

_ The goats are some of the few monsters who were alive when the monster population lived above ground. The little goat remembers what it was like, and decides to give you a name based on its favorite plant from the Surface. Because you came from the Surface, so you remind it of that plant. Also, according to the little goat, you also smell like that plant. So it gives you another new name. _

_ Pine Tree. You decide you like that name, too.  _

 

_ \----- _

 

_ Not once do you even miss the pace you once called home. These monsters have taken you in like one of them. You feel more at home here than you ever did with the humans. The humans were so mean to you. Your new Goat Uncles have been nicer, more welcoming to you in the short time that you have been stuck down here than your parents ever were in your lifetime.  _

_ The small goat asks you about the Surface. You’re able to answer him: you know a lot about what the Surface is like. You used to escape your parents by exploring the woods. In fact, that’s how you fell down here to begin with. Perhaps that’s why the small goat says you smell like pine trees. You’ve certainly been around them enough. _

_ The small goat seems to miss the Surface. He often talks about how nice it would be to break the barrier, to escape back to the Surface. But that’s impossible. It takes the power of seven human SOULs to break the barrier. As it stands, you’re the only human in the Underground, and nobody has any plans to sacrifice you to break the barrier. _

_ Still, though, these monsters have done so much for you. You wish you could do something for them in return. _

_ You decide to talk to the smarter goat about SOULs and SOUL fusing. He likes explaining things so much, he probably won’t even ask why you want to know. _

 

_ \----- _

 

_ Your talk with the smart goat was remarkably unfruitful. Apparently, he had never done any research on SOUL science. Back when they had been on the Surface, it really hadn’t mattered. Now that it  _ did _ matter, there weren’t any human SOULs to experiment on. You tell him that there  _ is _ one, but he had immediately shut down your idea. _

_ “I’m not going to experiment on  _ you, _ Bipper.” he had told you. “You mean too much to the Underground, to me. We’ll figure out a way to break the barrier without killing anyone.” _

_ You don’t think that’s possible. If there’s one thing that you learned from the humans, it’s that there is no such thing as a happy ending. As soon as you think you’ve found one, another problem arises. _

_ You tell the littlest goat about this. He’s the one who listens to you the most. _

_ “I think you’re right,” he tells you. He looks sad. “A happy ending would be us all living together on the Surface. But the only way to get to the surface is, you know…” he trails off. You don’t need him to finish the sentence. You know what he was about to say.  _

_ The only way to get to the Surface is for you to die. _

 

\-----

 

Dipper awoke groggily, and surprisingly feeling no pain. His hand shot to his leg, but he felt no blood. He looked around in confusion. Aside from what was on the snow around him, there was no blood. His leg wound had healed completely.

Dipper almost started to wonder how long he had even been out, if his leg had so completely healed, when he heard Thompson’s voice call out behind him, “Oh, hey guys, he’s awake!”

Dipper turned toward his voice, seeing Lee and Nate sitting, watching him. Lee was holding a wrapper of some sort, and Nate was glaring at Thompson. 

“What happened?” Dipper asked, looking at his leg in astonishment. “How long was I out?”

“About as long as it takes to get from here to the Nice Cream stand and back.” Lee replied. 

“Yeah, and Thompson, for the record,” Nate said, “Just because the wrapper says ‘you deserve a hug’ does NOT give you permission to hug me.”

“I said I was sorry!” Thompson started to insist, but Dipper cut him off. 

“Wait, so I was laying here, dying, and you went to go get ice cream?” he protested.

“ _ Nice _ Cream.” Lee corrected.

“And besides, the Nice Cream saved your life.” Nate said. Dipper stared at him in confusion, and prompting him to elaborate. “You know how monster food is made of magic?”

“Um, yeah? So?” Dipper said.

“Well, we heard from Wendy that food can sometimes heal you.” Nate said. 

“Oh!” Dipper said, swinging his leg back and forth. “Well, it looks like it worked, I feel great!”

Lee and Nate exchanged a glance, and Thompson looked worried. “Well, dude, thing is, monster bodies are also made of magic. So it doesn’t heal us.

“Monster food only heals humans.”

 

\-----

 

Soos stopped running and leaned against a tree, panting. He figured he had enough of a head start on the human to take a short break. 

He sat on a stump and grinned, thinking of all the great things that would come once he captured the human. For one thing, Pacifica would finally let him into the Royal Guard. And on that  note…

Soos pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Pacifica. The blonde had told him to notify her as soon as he found a human, and that was exactly what he was going to do.

“Hello, this is Pacifica speaking,” a faux-tough voice answered his call, followed by a “Mabel, give me back my phone,” in the background. Soos grinned. Clearly, Pacifica was hanging out with Mabel. And judging by the lack of a certain mechanical voice in the background, they were at Pacifica’s house rather than Mabel’s lab.

“Sorry, girl-dude, but could you give the phone to Pacifica? I have something super important I need to tell her.” Soos asked.

“What are you talking about? I am Pacifi-HEY!” Mabel’s bad Pacifica impression was cut off abruptly, and was replaced by Pacifica’s real voice.

“Sorry about that.” she said, and Soos could hear Mabel mutter, “Party pooper” in the background.

“No sweat, dude.” Soos said. “So, the reason I’m calling is because I, like, found a human.”

The line was silent for a second, before Pacifica asked incredulously, “You  _ did? _ And you actually captured them?”

“Well, no…” Soos admitted, “But I was planning on ambushing them in Snowdin. I’ll have them captured by the time you get here.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you will.” Pacifica said, and Soos felt excited that clearly, Pacifica had faith in him. “I’ll meet you in Snowdin. Bye.”

She hung up, and Soos punched the air triumphantly. Finally, things seemed to be going his way. If this kept up, he would be in the Royal Guard before you could say-...

“Hello, there.” a voice cut through his thoughts. Soos turned around, looking for the source of the voice, and grinned at someone with whom he had talked  frequently, someone who had told him that today was the day he could expect to find a human.

“Oh, hey, flower-dude!” Soos said, grinning at Bill. “What’s up?”


End file.
